Full Participation

The Linking Full Participation research project brings together strategically placed higher education institutions and communities that are working to figure out how to locate public problem-solving at the intersection of research, teaching, and engagement, and how to do so in a way that engages the full participation of diverse communities, particularly those historically left out of this discussion.

Now more than ever, colleges and universities are crucial institutions for building societies’ capacity to realize democratic values and address the complex problems facing our communities. There has been considerable mobilization to make higher education’s public mission more central; however, despite increased attention paid to enhancing higher education’s diversity and public engagement responsibilities, that aspiration frequently operates at the periphery.

Project Description

The Center for Institutional and Social Change (the Center) has developed a research collaboration with Syracuse University (SU), University of Southern California (USC), and IA that proceeds from a shared vision: to build higher education institutions that enable people from all communities, backgrounds, and identities to participate fully, and in the process, to build collective knowledge and capacity needed to solve difficult public problems, a dual agenda we refer to as “institutional citizenship” (Sturm 2006). Consistent with this vision, the project uses collaborative inquiry to advance three linked goals:

increasing access, success and full participation in higher education for underrepresented groups and communities.

building higher education’s capacity to address urgent challenges facing these communities through public engagement.

prompting the institutional re-imagination needed to facilitate the achievement of these goals.

This project undertakes a mixed-method, action research approach combining in-depth institutional inquiry, cross-institutional knowledge sharing, and comprehensive information pooling. Specifically, it will map, systematically document, learn from, build upon, and network across innovations within and between a set of strategically placed higher education institutions and their constituent communities. The work builds on IA’s collaboratories and national institutional network to provide a baseline understanding of best practices, encourage cross-institutional learning and knowledge sharing, and catalyze a national dialogue on these issues.

Collaborators

Co-principal investigators:

Susan Sturm, the George M. Jaffin Professor of Law and Social Responsibility and the Center’s Founding Director